Farooq Abdullah is National Conference chief ministerial candidate

Jammu, Oct 23 (IANS) Omar Abdullah Thursday said his National Conference will bounce back to power in Jammu and Kashmir and his father Farooq Abdullah is the chief ministerial candidate of the party. The troubled state is already in the poll mode after the Election Commission announced that the state assembly elections will be held in seven phases from Nov 17 to Dec 24.

Addressing a press conference here, National Conference president Omar Abdullah said the people of the state had experienced the “misgovernance of coalition government”.

“Six years of coalition rule in state was an eye-opener for people when misgovernance was the order of the day. Coalitions are neither good for governance, nor development. We shall be taking the message during these elections that coalitions are not in the interest of people especially in a state like Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

He declared that Farooq Abdullah, the party patron, will be the chief ministerial candidate of the party and he himself would also be contesting the polls.

“I will be responsible for all positives and negatives as the party president,” Omar said.

The National Conference suffered a defeat in the 2002 election and the party president hoped that this time he would reverse the trend and “lead the National Conference to power”.

Jammu and Kashmir is under governor’s rule since July 11 after the former Congress-led coalition government was toppled when crucial ally Peoples Democratic Party withdrew its support on the Amarnath land row.

The National Conference president said separatist leaders in the Kashmir Valley should be allowed to carry on their poll boycott campaign but added: “No use of guns should be there.”